Two years ago I wrote a book about the Riemann Hypothesis (for an account of the hypothesis see A.W. Moore's article in this issue). The proof of it is something that every mathematician would love to discover or - very much second best - see someone discover. One of the people I interviewed was Louis de Branges, a Franco-American mathematician at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, with one significant proof already under his belt. De Branges was convinced that a mathematical field in which he was the acknowledged specialist would lead to a proof of the hypothesis. I have stayed in touch with him, and earlier this year, he told me he was putting the finishing touches to a proof he has been working on for 25 years. On 28 April this proof was published on the internet for other mathematicians to see and criticise: www.math.purdue.edu/~branges.

LRB 22 July 2004 | PDF Download